It’s been a wild three days for former New York Giants first rounder Kadarius Toney.

On Saturday, January 27 — which happens to be Toney’s birthday — the Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver was ruled out of the AFC Championship game abruptly due to “personal reasons.” Later that evening, NFL Network insider James Palmer revealed that “Toney had his first child tonight. A baby girl.”

“That’s where the personal part of his designation came from,” Palmer went on. “He’s also dealing with a hip injury that is keeping him out [of the AFC title game].”

Then on January 28 ahead of kickoff, Toney took to Instagram live to refute the reports of a lingering hip injury. During a somewhat incoherent expletive-filled rant (shared by NFL aggregator Dov Kleiman on X), the pass-catcher stated very clearly: “I’m not hurt.”

He called any reports that he is hurt, “cap,” which is slang for a lie. “It goes from hip to ankle to this to that,” Toney said at the end of the clip, adding some very explicit language throughout.

Toney has not suited up in a game since December 17 against the New England Patriots.

Chiefs HC Andy Reid Responds to Kadarius Toney’s Claims That He Is Not Injured
January 29 was day three of this Chiefs-Toney saga, and KC head coach Andy Reid addressed the media as he typically does on the afternoon following a game.

“I actually haven’t seen it,” Reid responded when asked about the video. “I’ve heard people talk about it, but he’ll be back out there, and we’ll see how he does.”

When a follow-up question pressed for more information on whether or not Toney was injured, the Chiefs HC reiterated that he is.

“Obviously, he’s been on the injury report,” Reid stated. “So, that part. That’s not made up by any means.”

The long-time head coach added that Toney has been “working through some things and he’ll be back out there [soon].”

Similar to Giants head coach Brian Daboll, Reid is known for leaving a lot unsaid at the podium. He did so here, but this situation does bear watching.

“If Toney was being truthful and the Chiefs were lying about his injury status, the NFL could punish the team,” explained Heavy on Chiefs reporter Devon Clements on January 29. “If Toney isn’t being truthful, then it appears he’s continuing to sour his relationship with a team that is Super Bowl bound as he watches from the sideline.”

In a season with high expectations coming in, Toney has been a disaster. He’s appeared in 13 games for the Chiefs in 2023 — none in the playoffs — with a career-low 169 receiving yards and one touchdown. He’s also been charged with five dropped passes according to Pro Football Reference, two of which resulted in interceptions.

Kadarius Toney Is Wearing out Welcome With Chiefs, as He Did With Giants
If all this sounds familiar, it’s nearly the exact same cycle that Toney went through with the Giants. His first campaign was promising before injuries, drops and off-the-field drama caused him to fall out of favor — and quickly.

If Toney isn’t careful, the same thing will happen in Kansas City, and it would be interesting to see how many NFL teams line up to sign a player that has been a known distraction at two different organizations.

The 20th overall pick in the draft has always been talented, so he may get one or two more opportunities if the Chiefs choose to move on after the Super Bowl. Especially since he’s only 25 years of age.

But he won’t last long in the league if he doesn’t start learning from his mistakes.

The Giants were strike one. Kansas City — if things don’t improve — strike two. We all know what happens at three.